In DREAM LIFE, Claire’s friend Becca gets invited to join the Blue Moons who beautify New York City. Let’s say a secret society invites YOU to become a member. What are they called and what is their undercover mission?

This is a question I've already asked myself and given much thought to, as it happens. The secret society I've been dreaming of being tapped to join is the Royal Academy of Stuff and Butternut. The mission is to secretly reward and humiliate those who are deemed deserving of our attention. Light on our feet, nearly invisible to the eye, we will scurry about like rats and make sure that the teenage girl who's being punished by her high school principal for keeping a clever blog keeps finding chocolates in her schoolbag or that the pretentious professor who makes withering remarks to his students accidentally sits in a bowl of butternut squash soup.

Butternut squash soup sounds pretty good about now. I was fascinated by the locations you chose for your books. How much of the NYC we read about in DREAM GIRL and DREAM LIFE really exists?It's all there--the professor housing complex by the Angelika movie theater, the Green-Wood Cemetery, the Upper East Side shop with deadly-good hot chocolate, the little mews with tiny houses fit for elves or goblins. I didn't make anything up.It's just a matter of waking up and smelling the possibility. And, yes, walking away from your computer.

You know, I’ve been compiling a list of recommendations of things to do in NYC by YA authors. What are your hot tips for a first or second timer in the city?I'd recommend going for lunch at the Angelika Kitchen, a healthy restaurant that specializes in hilariously glamorous hippies eating piles of veggies and seaweed, on 12th St and 2nd Ave. Then you can go right across the street to Momofuku Milk bar and load up on the most disgusting and delicious desserts known to mankind. I especially recommend their compost cookie. How they get that much butter and sugar into a cookie is a mystery worth a Claire book.

Okay, then I'd go uptown to the Neue Gallerie, a museum in an old mansion that specializes in early 20th c Austrian art. It's a wildly beautiful and stately place--every time I'm there, I feel like a ball is about to break out.

Then I'd call me and ask me to take you to Brooklyn to look at the crazy little mews with the goblin houses described above. You'll feel like you're in some 19th century Gothic novel, until one of the residents stomps out of his house to take out the trash and he'll be wearing shorts and a bathrobe.

I am definitely calling you up! So, I see you were a fellow Tiger Beat subscriber. What posters from that esteemed magazine made it on your wall?

The sad thing is, much as I wanted to be, I wasn't that into boys, so I was entirely undiscriminating. I'd pull out ALL the pictures: Fred Savage, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Kirk Cameron, 9-year-old Leo DiCaprio, anyone, and I'll stick them up. My mom thought it was horrifying and came into my room and added some shots of Al Sharpton and Rodney Dangerfield. I didn't notice for a whole week.

That is hilarious! Any more books about Claire in the pipeline? I hope so.Oh, a girl can dream!

Thanks Lauren!

So now for the giveaway. You can choose either a copy of DREAM GIRL or a copy of DREAM LIFE if you already have DREAM GIRL. Just tell me in the comments what pictures adorned your wall as a tween and you are entered. (As you might have guessed, my walls were covered with cat posters. Sad, but true.) As always, 1 extra entry will be given to those who spread the word either via linking to the contest from your blog (sidebar is fine) or tweeting with @lenoreva (make sure you indicate this in an extra comment for it to count). This contest is US and Canada only and will close at 11:59 PM CST on February 10th.

Horses! I also had a large poster of tropical fish from when I visited the Camden Adventure Aquarium with my parents. Kinda wish I knew where that went when I took it down in favor of Silverchair, Bush, Tori Amos and... Hanson.

Oh, gosh, I had a big poster with jungle creatures urging everyone to save the rain forests, and then I had a Declaration of Independence (so dorky!), a painting by my uncle, and a poster map of Narnia. And a large poster of a kitten.

Oh funny. My trashcan had smiley-faces all over it! I had a bunch of travel type posters up in those years--mostly of France. I still have a beautiful drawing type poster of Sacre Couer in our basement. I made it to France once, but settled right where I grew up.JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

Wonderful interview! Very clever to get NYC tips from the authors. I haven't read either of these books and they look quite good.

As far as the posters go, I am ashamed to admit that I was a bit of a tomboy growing up and never posted boy pictures on my walls. Sad right? But I did have pics of basketball teams - so that equates to boys right? Right?

What a great giveaway and contest idea, When I was growing up I had pink rug, pink walls, frilly curtains.. No wonder I hate pink now lol, Unicorn posters adorned my room, i do also remember a photo of Brian Austen Green and Luke Perry on my wall and a picture of my favorite singer Tiffany on my desk

I had posters of animals on my walls all through my tween and teen years. I've never been big on wanting pictures of actual people. I think I may have had a photo of Mel Gibson from Hamlet up for a short while.

I don't and never liked clutter so I didn't put anything on my walls. When I was around 14 or 15 I got a corkboard and had pictures of friends on it. I had and still have a huge thing for Josh Hartnett, so of course I had to have his picture on there too. Come to think of it, he was also my screensaver and backround until my computer shut down for good.

Let's see. I remember Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Leonardo Di Caprio, and Devon Sawa being up there (definitely taken from Tiger Beat). Later on I confess that Justin Timberlake replaced those earlier ones.

I'd like to be in the running for Dream Life. Pics that adorned my wall as a teen.. I would cut out any images from magazines or newspapers that left an impact on me and tape them on the wall. I kinda miss doing that.

I loved this interview! Lauren sounds like a really creative and fun person. I would love to be entered in your giveaway, and to answer your question, my wall was adorned with multiple pictures of Guns N Roses when I was a teenager. Particularly head shots of their bass player, Duff McKagan.

Hmm... lets see. I think I had pictures Angel from Buffy and the model/actor that played Tarzan for a season on the WB (when it still was called the WB) just a bunch of cute guys from the shows I watched at the time.